A Study in Deception
by Dawn E. Hawkes
Summary: Nightingale. Archer. That's all Kaianna had ever wanted to be. She preferred her solitude and the security of the shadows when she worked. That all changed the day she took it upon herself to free a captive from a band of traveling Thalmor. Now, 'Kai' will have to use ever manner of subterfuge to keep her and this new stranger alive. Fantasy/Adventure/Romance. M - Profanity, etc.


The archer allowed herself a controlled breath, hazel eyes watching their quarry from the hiding place amongst the trees and shrubs, shaded by the dark hood that covered her head. With quiet ease, she drew the knocked arrow back until she could feel the outside of her gloved thumb brushing against the skin of her jaw.

 _Wait for it…_

Patience won the prize; the archer knew this. She made absolutely sure of the stag's movements, the changes in the winds. Anything that might throw off the arrow's aim. She could feel nothing that would interfere with felling the target. With one more controlled breath, the hunter loosed her arrow.

There should not have been anything to stop the arrow from hitting its mark. Yet it whizzed by the stag as the animal suddenly jerked with a start as if it had heard something in the distance. The huntress swore under quiet breath as the animal took off at a run through the trees.

Eyes narrowed in irritation, Kaianna allowed herself another swore and stood to her full height, a frustrated sigh following the trail of colorful language she had learned at her time amongst the Thieves Guild. Only after she had that out of her system did she pause, suddenly wondering what might have caused the animal to become so spooked. All of the cards had been in her favor; she had been upwind and stealthy. The creature had certainly not heard her or detected her scent, or she would not have had such a good shot. Allowing herself to grow quiet, the elf focused her hearing as she sent her gaze around the area surrounding her. She listened to the wind in the trees. The entire forest had gone quiet, aside from the rustling, and after only a second it was easy to discern why.

In the distance there was the faint sound of gruff voices barking orders. Kaianna could have chosen to turn and go the opposite direction, there was no reason for her to investigate the noises. It could have been anything. Falkreath and home were close by, a warm fire would welcome her. So would another vegetarian meal, however. This was distasteful to her, and there was something about the commanding tones that drew her closer. The huntress kept her bow at the ready as she stealthily made her way through the woods, pausing at the base of a knotted old tree. Carefully, she peered around her hiding place to see what the commotion was about. Taking stock of the situation, her blood quickened in both anger and excitement.

Three Thalmor agents. Once more, her expression was one of annoyance.

 _Leave it to them to ruin my bloody hunt._

As she watched, they were shoving a man along in front of them. It impressed upon Kai that they were in an odd location, off the path and out of sight of anyone, and they yelled orders at him to continue. Their voices in that usual high-bred imperious tone that Kaianna had come to hate. Elf, though she were, the Thalmor had always been more of a thorn in her side than anything else, and the list of reasons to dislike them just kept getting longer. From the looks of it, their captive would have felt the same way as they eventually stopped him at an old tree stump. One of the Thalmor had his hand upon the sword at his side. It wasn't difficult to see where this was going. They had cost her dinner with their impromptu execution; she could see no reason why she shouldn't interfere with their fun as well.

The huntress could have turned her back then, and left the Thalmor to their work, but her earlier interactions with them had left much to be desired, and after they had basically lost her an opportunity at a delicious evening mean, she was itching for a fight. Hazel eyes shifted to look at the surrounding landscape, searching for a better vantage point to see what they were up to.

 _High ground… high ground… ah, there._

She had caught sight of a rising hill mixed with overhanging rock that constituted a lot of the landscape outside of Falkreath. Whispering a prayer to Nocturnal, Kaianna slipped into the shadows and moved lithely to scale a large tree close to the rock's edge. She barely rustled the tree branches as she leapt to the overhang, her first thought being that Karliah might have been proud of the little maneuver. She had taught her well. Lowering herself careful to one knee, she readied the first arrow.

Drawing a slow, even breath, she couldn't help the confident smirk that curled the edge of her lip as she prepared to fire.

 _They won't know what hit them._

Knocking the arrow, she drew back carefully and leveled onto her first target, slightly above to account for wind and her position above them. When she let go, she could feel the vibration of through the wood of her bow as she launched the first shot. Immediately, she was reaching back into her quiver for another and readying it as shouts of alarm rang out. The agent she had fired at collapsed to the ground, a sick gurgling emerging around the arrow in their throat. The survivors were scrambling, looking everywhere for the source of the attack as Kai loosed another arrow on another one. A mage, who had called upon a shield of protection, electricity arching between their fingertips as they frantically searched the area for her. A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as she shifted to another spot to gain a better shot before letting go another arrow at the mage. This first shot landed in the man's knee as he had suddenly darted wildly, causing him to drop to the ground, writhing and screaming in pain. Allowing herself a grumble, she drew again and fired it straight into the grounded mage's head, her gaze shifting to immediately search for the final objective.

The sword wielder had locked onto her location as she had killed his companion, and as she was pulling herself to her feet he had been rushing up the hill from the other side to meet her, sword brandished. Swinging the bow quickly over her shoulder, Kai wrenched her own short sword free of its sheath and brought it up to block the wild attack. Her position upon the rocks brought her down onto her back, and the agent began pressing down with all is might upon the sword, trying hard to gain the upper hand.

"You will regret your interference into Thalmor matters!" He practically hissed at her as he attempted to apply all the strength he had.

Kaianna could feel her muscles complaining under the weight of him and the sword as she tried hard to keep his blade off her neck. Determination obvious upon her face as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe. But…maybe…not!" Kai shifted her hips slightly, bringing her knee up savagely to connect with the spot between his unprotected legs, sending him unbalanced to the ground in a swearing ball. Rolling out of the way just in time before he could fall on her, she brought herself quickly to her feet and planted her foot over the blade of his dropped sword before he could retrieve it.

She could only grin at the choice words he had for her. "Now that's no way to talk to a lady, is it?"

"You will pay dearly for this!"

"In order to pay for this, I would have to be caught. I certainly can't have that, would ruin my already tarnished reputation. Give Sithis my regards." Without another moment's hesitation, she brought her own sword down with both hands and all the force she could muster into the center of the agent's body.

Giving it one swift turn, she jerked it out and whipped the blade with a piece of the Thalmor's own cloth armor before letting out a sigh and slumping against a tree for a moment.

"Hello? Where are you?"

The sudden voice and question caused her to go for her bow, raising another knocked arrow at the source of the voice before relaxing only slightly. In her focus on the agents, she had almost forgotten the captive was there. The man they had absconded with into the woods stood stock still where he had been left, obviously disoriented. A black linen sack covered his head. Who was he? What had he done, if anything?

His hands were behind his back. He would be of little risk to her, she told herself. Yet she moved with caution as she returned her bow to her back and tucked the arrow she had clutched into her hand into the belt at her waist for quick access should she need it. Moving back to the tree she had scaled moments ago, Kai carefully slid back down to the ground and moved towards him quietly. The captive was an odd one. Sporting an almost lizard-like tail, his skin covered in spots and scales, yet his skin tone was more Human than Argonian. A half-breed, perhaps? Was that even possible? Hesitantly, she reached out and jerked the linen sack from over his head.

The huntress' hazel eyes widened, and without hesitation her bow was back in her hands, the arrow that had been in her belt aimed at the stranger. The man that stared back at her in alarm was no man at all. His face was adorned with ridges and scales. Bright red hair hung down into his face slightly, and large curved horns protruded from either side of his head. This man was like nothing she had ever seen before. The eyes that gazed back into hers were the color of molten metal. He was no man.

"Who or what are you?" She was on high alert now. Not knowing what he was meant she had no idea what to expect.

The stranger swallowed slowly as his gaze leveled on her arrow after taking in what had happened to the agents that had held him. He seemed for only a moment to level his chances of escape, but then decided instead it was best to just answer her question.

"I am Ragnavir Faskzul."


End file.
